Harry Styles Has a John Wilson Documentary in the Works, and Debuted a Liam Payne Tribute

A fan-snapped photo of a man trailing Harry Styles with a camera set social media off over the weekend. The man was John Wilson, the director behind HBO’s How To with John Wilson, and he has been filming Styles’s Madison Square Garden residency since August, Variety reports. Variety calls the run the largest single-engagement residency ever at the venue.

The film is shaping up as a hybrid of live performance and behind-the-scenes footage of Styles, his crew and his fans, per Variety and The FADER. Universal Pictures Content Group, Peanut World Pictures and Styles are producing, with Universal holding global rights. Distribution is still being worked out, but insiders told Variety a theatrical release is possible. Reps for Styles, Wilson and Universal had no immediate comment. Stereogum notes the pair were also spotted filming on the NYC Ferry.

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Wilson is a left-field pick for a glossy pop film, as Variety concedes, but he began his career directing music videos, and FADER notes a 2016 short about David Byrne’s tour. Variety compares the choice to Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, whose Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything opened to an estimated $15 million over the weekend. Wilson’s feature debut, The History of Concrete, was an indie box-office surprise. Watch its trailer below.

In a New Yorker interview last month, quoted by FADER, Wilson said: “I feel like I never really know what I’m making or why I’m filming certain things.” Once there’s enough footage, he added, he starts to shape it into something.

The Liam Payne tribute

The run also had a somber night on Friday (Oct. 16), the second anniversary of Liam Payne’s death. “And two years ago today, I lost one of those friends,” Styles told the sold-out crowd, per Billboard. “I’m sure a lot of you have been through similar things. I hope you haven’t. But really, it’s just about looking after each other.”

Then, accompanying himself on guitar, he debuted an unreleased song called “What Is Enough.” He introduced it this way: “I’m gonna play you a song I wrote for my friend about two years ago, if that’s all right,” Deadline reports. Payne, who rose to fame with Styles in One Direction, died at 31 in 2024 after a fall from a balcony in Buenos Aires. The song has not been released.

What’s next

Styles plays his final Garden nights through Oct. 31, and the stadium run he announced last month opens April 2 in Phoenix. The residency supports Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally., and Billboard says Ticketmaster counted 11.5 million presale registrations for it. The Wilson film has no title or release date yet.